Genocide or Armed Uprising? The Armenian Genocide Question: Fact or Fiction?

Reparations or Fabrication? The Armenian Question 

The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest and longest lasting empires in the history of the world. Asiatic Turkic tribes from Central Asia migrated to Asia Minor which is modern day Turkey and conquered Constantinople in 1453 lasted for six centuries until the end of World War I at its height the Ottoman Empire was in three continents Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Armenian people are a Indo-European people from the Caucus region and at one time inhabited Asia Minor. Their language and culture is unique and their language Armenian is considered a isolated language. Armenians are considered the first country in the world to officially adopt Christianity as their national religion, and throughout their history they have been persecuted by more dominant countries and they have fiercely fought off the Islamic invasions and have been able to maintain a strong Christian identity for centuries.

During the Crimean War Turkey and Russia fought each for control of the Balkans and in the Black Sea and Russia saw itself as a protector of Orthodox Christians in the territories of the Ottoman Empire. European imperialism brought gradual decline of the Ottoman Empire and many territories gained independence or were taken over by European powers.

The Armenians have tried many times to gain independence but have been largely unsuccessful due to their small numbers and not having arms and outside support. During the late 1890s Russian Imperialist ambitions turned towards the declining Ottoman Empire and its desire to annex land into the Russian Empire caused the Russians to seek out Armenian assistance in order to lead a armed resistance and promising a independent Armenia out of parts of eastern Asian Minor.

During the outbreak of World War I the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers and declared war on the Allies and in turn Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire the Turks were fighting the Russians and many Armenians crossed over into the Russian side and fearing more assaults from the Russians on the eastern front the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed VI ordered the entire Armenian populations from Asia Minor and Caucus regions into the deserts of Syria in order to avoid more civil unrest.

The Armenian Lobbyists and their Allies want to equate the Armenian Massacres of WWI to the Jewish Holocaust of WWII by Nazi Germany and to demand reparations and to force the Turkish government in recognizing the Armenian Massacres as Genocide. What qualifies as Genocide is state sponsored mass killings based on religion, race or an ethnic group.

The Armenian Massacres or the Armenian Genocide as the Armenian Lobbyists and their Allies call it don't qualify as a Genocide because of several things: 1. The Armenians took up arms and were supported by the Russian government to destabilize and overthrow the Sultan, 2. Armenian guerilla groups pillaged and attacked Turkish towns and villages were civilians lived in order to take territory for Russia, 3. If what happened to the Jews of Germany happened to the Armenians of Turkey why did the Ottoman Officials only punished the Armenians that were disloyal but left alone the other Armenians that didn't rebel.

The events of 1915 were very tragic and sad but it doesn't classify as Genocide and what most people don't know is that both sides were killing each other, Armenians killing Turks and Turks killing Armenians and vice versa its just the nature of war. But in order for dialogue and closure can be addressed there needs to be open discussion and not demonize the other side. And not allowing freedom of thought and freedom of opinion on the issue is no different than demonizing and criminalizing the denial of the Holocaust and to discuss the possible inflated accounts  of how many people have died.  

Freedom of Speech and Difference of Opinion goes both ways and both sides need to be heard and allowed to discuss things that many people will not agree on no matter how horrible or controversial they may be, people need to be shown all the facts and use critical thinking before making their own decisions on what is truth and what is false.